What do you think?
Rate this book
Swamp Thing (2000) #2
Swamp Thing by Brian K. Vaughan, Vol. 2
In this series from 2000, writer Brian K. Vaughan kicked off a new Swamp Thing series that starred Tefe Holland, daughter of Swamp Thing and Abigail Arcane. In this concluding volume, Tefe is on the run from government agents intent on wiping her out of existence, along with anyone she's come in contact with. But when Tefe helps a friend escape, her father, a ruthless congressman bent on harming the environment, she runs headlong into radical environmentalists whose own plans are every bit as dangerous as the politician's. Plus: Tefe's father, the real Swamp Thing, returns at last! But why has he chosen this moment to make his reappearance? Collects: Swamp Thing (2000) #10-20, material from Vertigo Secret Files and Origins: Swamp Thing (2000) #1
264 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2014
7 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Brian K. Vaughan
1,059 books14.1k followersBrian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
June 1, 2024
Not as strong as volume one, largely due to the book being cancelled, forcing Vaughan to wrap things up sooner with a bit of a weak ending. There were some plot threads left dangling, too, which is frustrating.
This being said, I still really enjoyed it, despite its faults. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
This being said, I still really enjoyed it, despite its faults. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
February 18, 2021
Brian K. Vaughan, author of fan-favorite graphic novel series “Saga” and “Y: The Last Man”, brought his visionary talents to the pages of DC’s “Swamp Thing” in 2000. In a 20-issue miniseries, Vaughan took a daring and unique approach: the titular hero wasn’t even featured in the story, except in flashback and in the final issue.
Vaughan’s “Swamp Thing” focused on Tefe Holland, the daughter of Alec and Abigail Holland. Possessed with eerie elemental powers deriving from the Green, like her dad, Tefe struggles between her human side and her inhuman side. She is constantly straddling the line between saving humanity or destroying it for the sake of the planet.
With her motley crue of an entourage—-a disfigured young Native American named Barnabas and a grizzled ex-soldier named Pilate—Tefe is tasked with the almost-impossible quest of finding the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the fabled tree of the Book of Genesis. You know the one: talking serpent, tempting red apple, brought about the Fall of Man. Well, apparently, it’s real.
Hot on her trail is a psychopathic government agent that is killing everyone that Tefe comes in contact with: waitresses, police officers, Joe Schmoes that she just bumped into on the sidewalk. Oh, and there’s also the big green samurai. But enough about that…
Vaughan’s “Swamp Thing” was an entertaining, well-written, enlightening, and fun take on the Swampy mythos, but the problem with all of Vaughan’s stories is that they have to end. I’m not sure if he ever intended to return to the story of Tefe Holland (the finality of her tale suggests not, and I have done the whole Google thing, and her story seems to end with Vaughan’s 2000-2001 run), but it would be fun to someday find out what happened to her.
Vaughan’s “Swamp Thing” focused on Tefe Holland, the daughter of Alec and Abigail Holland. Possessed with eerie elemental powers deriving from the Green, like her dad, Tefe struggles between her human side and her inhuman side. She is constantly straddling the line between saving humanity or destroying it for the sake of the planet.
With her motley crue of an entourage—-a disfigured young Native American named Barnabas and a grizzled ex-soldier named Pilate—Tefe is tasked with the almost-impossible quest of finding the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the fabled tree of the Book of Genesis. You know the one: talking serpent, tempting red apple, brought about the Fall of Man. Well, apparently, it’s real.
Hot on her trail is a psychopathic government agent that is killing everyone that Tefe comes in contact with: waitresses, police officers, Joe Schmoes that she just bumped into on the sidewalk. Oh, and there’s also the big green samurai. But enough about that…
Vaughan’s “Swamp Thing” was an entertaining, well-written, enlightening, and fun take on the Swampy mythos, but the problem with all of Vaughan’s stories is that they have to end. I’m not sure if he ever intended to return to the story of Tefe Holland (the finality of her tale suggests not, and I have done the whole Google thing, and her story seems to end with Vaughan’s 2000-2001 run), but it would be fun to someday find out what happened to her.
March 18, 2018
Saga was awesome, can't believe that Brian have done this thing after such great work in Saga.
October 11, 2021
Silk Cut (10). A wonderful look at Tefe and her other father [8/10].
Red Harvest (11-17). I sort of miss the staccato, brief stories of this first volume, but this is a wonderful coming together of all the plot threads in the entire book. It's got deep thoughts, shocks, and surprises ... and of course more of this wacky road trip [8/10].
Finale (18-20). You could tell things were rushed here, at the end. The sudden disappearance of Heather and the Senator is the most obvious sign, but it's also obvious in the very quick run through the Tree of Knowledge arc. Despite that, the last issue is terrific, as Tefe finally makes her choice [7+/10].
Overall, I think the first volume of Vaughan's Swamp Thing is better than the second. Despite that, this is a terrific volume that doesn't just allude toward Vaughan's future greatness, but is also great all on its own.
Red Harvest (11-17). I sort of miss the staccato, brief stories of this first volume, but this is a wonderful coming together of all the plot threads in the entire book. It's got deep thoughts, shocks, and surprises ... and of course more of this wacky road trip [8/10].
Finale (18-20). You could tell things were rushed here, at the end. The sudden disappearance of Heather and the Senator is the most obvious sign, but it's also obvious in the very quick run through the Tree of Knowledge arc. Despite that, the last issue is terrific, as Tefe finally makes her choice [7+/10].
Overall, I think the first volume of Vaughan's Swamp Thing is better than the second. Despite that, this is a terrific volume that doesn't just allude toward Vaughan's future greatness, but is also great all on its own.
Read
February 27, 2016Reading this old apprentice work by Vaughan, I realised part of why Saga was such a leap forward for him: being set in an entirely invented world means he can't drop chunks of undigested research everywhere like he used to. That's not the only problem here; it's hard buying into the overarching 'Will she destroy humanity or plants?' dilemma when it's inevitable the answer's going to be 'Neither'. Less satisfying than the first volume, precisely because it's more about the big plot than horror-of-the-week, though at least the art picks up once Camuncoli comes on board, and you can see his now-familiar style evolving from issue to issue.
May 29, 2020
I liked how the series started, but man did it take a plunge down under with the save-the-planet nonsense. Covers were still great though.
October 6, 2022
Brian K. Vaughan has a lot on his mind, a lot of ideas that're going to come out later (and only slightly less incoherently) in "Ex Machina." He's also got Garth Ennis' "Preacher" on his mind, as well as (more obviously) Alan Moore's run on Swampy and (less obviously) Nancy A. Collins' seminal followup on the character. (The cover artist from "Preacher" will even start doing covers for Vaughan's go at the character.)
Brian K. Vaughan also has at least one major great idea, and at least one major problem. The great idea is to go for a subversive take on a Swamp Thing story: have it star the elemental's only child, Tefé, who has dominion over plants and flesh. (Swamp Thing will hardly feature in the story, and will be more of an absent, failure father.) This is a great idea! Swamp Thing's power level had been raised to the gargantuan heights of a Lucy ("Elfen Lied") or Shiina ("Narutaru") and he basically had become a god on Earth, so moving forward he would have to be de-powered via retcon (which is dull), sent off planet or off plane (which is complicated), or there needed to be a new Swamp Thing. Tefé was right there, damaged from Swampy's failures and embittered by the ways humanity is blithely destroying the only home they have.
The major problem is Brian K. Vaughan has too many great ideas, and none of those ideas include a destination for the story.
Sometimes having no destination in mind can work wonders for a story, just look at Moore's run on the character. There is an overarching story involving John Constantine and the magic forces of the DC universe, but that ends well before the last third of the story. Mostly Moore's run is a travelogue, a picaresque, a narrative wandering. Is it always a good narrative? That's debatable. What is less debatable is the inventiveness of the stories that sprung out of it, such as Swamp Thing lost in the Winchester Mystery House, Swamp Thing versus Gotham City, or Swamp Thing adrift among the stars.
Vaughan's Swamp story has, in no particular order: a memory wipe storyline, a quest for the tree of knowledge from the garden of Eden, an unrequited queer love story, an evil queer-coded presidential candidate, three different traveling companions who are hanger-ons with dead end storylines, an evil writer on a boat, two cross country road trips, a samurai assassin made of kudzu, a sadist federal agent tailing Tefé, two helpful federal agents tailing Tefé, several rapes and attempted rapes, some genital mutilation, a visit to The Dreaming, a battle with her dad, an on-again off-again conflict with The Green's inhabitants, evil logging companies *and* evil protestors of the logging company, and oh god I have to stop now oh god it's too much oh god.
Vaughan's Swamp story also has only 20 issues. It also has multiple apologies, lampshades, and references to the fact that Tefé's quest has no story, destination, or plan. Which is not something you get points for knowing about your own story.
I mentioned there are a lot of ideas on Vaughan's mind, and what I mean by that is that horror is less on his mind than in-depth character conversations. Now I love characters just sitting and talking, I eat that shit up, but it matters whether the characters are learning anything from the conversation and changing in reaction to it. However, Tefé starts out the series not knowing whether to help humanity or save humanity, and by the end of the story she decides firmly that she won't do either. What will she do instead then? Unclear! The End.
That is not much of an arc, and there is a lot of talking in this series for there to be no arc. Her traveling companions all go along with whatever she says, even if they don't agree with it, and so they don't challenge her out of her comfort zone. There's no one in the story who actually stands as a real rival to her, what Octavia Butler would call an "ultimate adversary." So Tefé will hang out with a punk band and a new friend, leaver her new friend alone with them even though Tefé knows this isn't safe, then finds out the friend was gang raped, punishes the rapists, then blames her new friend for being raped. Does anyone stop Tefé from doing this, or punish her, are there any consequences for this action, does it cause her to think new thoughts or move in a new direction? No, it just sort of happens.
There's a very white Gen X brain rot at the center of this story's problems, and it's an issue that I'm really familiar with. It's a poison Vaughan doesn't get out of his system until he finishes "Ex Machina," and after he does finish that later story he writes more genuinely revolutionary or at least beautifully revelatory stories like "Saga" and "Paper Girls." The brain rot sounds like this: "Is violence justified to stop a violent system?" "Are women oppressed or are they just irrational children?" "Do liberals have any kind of point to make or is it just P.C. culture run amok?" "Are Black people actually people or are they just weird magical beings and/or disease-carrying starving militants who can't get their act together?" "Are queer people cool but sad or are they evil and gross?" "Is there anything worth rebelling against or should I just get a job and shut up?" "Is collective action possible or does everything come down to individualism and personal responsibility?"
Now this sounds bad, and that's because it is bad. But it's not uncommon for pale ppl of the post-boomer, pre-millennial mindset. Reagan talked a lot of bullshit and that took hold in the yt cultural imagination very, very, very rapidly. It has made us lazy or indifferent to civil rights, it has enabled our worst greed instincts, it has made white women like myself hate ourselves to an absolutely mind-boggling degree, and it has gotten idiotic notions stuck in our frostbitten heads like "I don't even see color," "Reverse racism is real," "Queer and trans people sexualize children," "The government is fine actually and should not change," and "Why even bother doing anything the world is doomed and we should all just die?" It's annoying and it's exhausting and it's painted every aspect of American white culture and I will not see its death in my lifetime.
It's bogstandard white supremacy mind poisoning, and it comes as a result of three things: 1) Reaganomics brain worms that say financial success is the only real success and if you fail that you are a failure as a person, 2) if you're cis and het and able bodied, then you are insulated from a lot of sources of oppression, and told the oppression you do experience didn't happen and if it did happen it was your fault anyway. And 3) the internet didn't exist during gen x, not in the way it does now, so unless you spent a lot of time at a library putting all the pieces together to figure out how fucked the world is, you just didn't know. And in your ignorance, you can become susceptible to the brain rot questions. (Questions which are themselves insane and false binaries.)
See, POC, queer and trans folk, disabled peeps, don't often need to be told that shit is pretty bad out there in America, but we make up a minority of people in power, the kind of people who hire people that look like them to write comic books, to write all stories, to run all the broken systems in our country. It is to those people's benefit for the system to stay the way it is, because they profit off it and why would they build a system that didn't profit them further? Even if it is literally killing the planet and ruining our mental health.
A cousin of mine this week killed himself because his business went under as a result of the current economic recession. He had a wife and a kid, but his business went under and now he's gone. All because of money, which isn't real. We made it up. Housing should be free, food should be free, security and a sense of safety should be free. It should not be contingent on how much fake money we do or don't have. We can change the world into a different world. Plants are real, animals are real, oppression is real, and all of these things can change and can end, but only one of them should.
And this is why I haven't talked much about Tefé Holland and her journey, because she is mainly just a cipher in this story. An avatar for what is on Vaughan's brain at this point in his life. A mouthpiece. The characters in this story are constantly trying to talk their way out of the rot and into the truth, and they never do. They are just bitter, depressed, oppressed, and feel powerless even though in Tefé's case that is very much untrue.
In "Ex Machina," the main character feels doomed to become a morally grey, extremely depressed, Republican politician because, hey, that's where the power is. And that feels like the real finale (and the real overall story) of where Vaughan is headed in this Swamp Thing storyline. It's a story of giving up. Of preferring power and dominance instead of trying to imagine a better, or even salvageable, world. This story thinks humanity is too awful to save. I mean, Vaughan kills half of humanity in "Y: The Last Man" to build his idea of a better world. Vaughan had a lot of processing to do over the course of a lot of years. But he got better. He climbed out of the rot. Because "Saga" is a better, smarter, richer, realer story than any he's written before. He still has time to fuck it up of course, there's half the issues left to go, but he shows he can grow as a writer and as a person. Hopefully you can, too. Hopefully we all can. What's the alternative? A fatalist smirk on your face as you lay down and die? Is that the best case scenario, really? Is that all the amazing human imagination in your skull can contain?
Brian K. Vaughan also has at least one major great idea, and at least one major problem. The great idea is to go for a subversive take on a Swamp Thing story: have it star the elemental's only child, Tefé, who has dominion over plants and flesh. (Swamp Thing will hardly feature in the story, and will be more of an absent, failure father.) This is a great idea! Swamp Thing's power level had been raised to the gargantuan heights of a Lucy ("Elfen Lied") or Shiina ("Narutaru") and he basically had become a god on Earth, so moving forward he would have to be de-powered via retcon (which is dull), sent off planet or off plane (which is complicated), or there needed to be a new Swamp Thing. Tefé was right there, damaged from Swampy's failures and embittered by the ways humanity is blithely destroying the only home they have.
The major problem is Brian K. Vaughan has too many great ideas, and none of those ideas include a destination for the story.
Sometimes having no destination in mind can work wonders for a story, just look at Moore's run on the character. There is an overarching story involving John Constantine and the magic forces of the DC universe, but that ends well before the last third of the story. Mostly Moore's run is a travelogue, a picaresque, a narrative wandering. Is it always a good narrative? That's debatable. What is less debatable is the inventiveness of the stories that sprung out of it, such as Swamp Thing lost in the Winchester Mystery House, Swamp Thing versus Gotham City, or Swamp Thing adrift among the stars.
Vaughan's Swamp story has, in no particular order: a memory wipe storyline, a quest for the tree of knowledge from the garden of Eden, an unrequited queer love story, an evil queer-coded presidential candidate, three different traveling companions who are hanger-ons with dead end storylines, an evil writer on a boat, two cross country road trips, a samurai assassin made of kudzu, a sadist federal agent tailing Tefé, two helpful federal agents tailing Tefé, several rapes and attempted rapes, some genital mutilation, a visit to The Dreaming, a battle with her dad, an on-again off-again conflict with The Green's inhabitants, evil logging companies *and* evil protestors of the logging company, and oh god I have to stop now oh god it's too much oh god.
Vaughan's Swamp story also has only 20 issues. It also has multiple apologies, lampshades, and references to the fact that Tefé's quest has no story, destination, or plan. Which is not something you get points for knowing about your own story.
I mentioned there are a lot of ideas on Vaughan's mind, and what I mean by that is that horror is less on his mind than in-depth character conversations. Now I love characters just sitting and talking, I eat that shit up, but it matters whether the characters are learning anything from the conversation and changing in reaction to it. However, Tefé starts out the series not knowing whether to help humanity or save humanity, and by the end of the story she decides firmly that she won't do either. What will she do instead then? Unclear! The End.
That is not much of an arc, and there is a lot of talking in this series for there to be no arc. Her traveling companions all go along with whatever she says, even if they don't agree with it, and so they don't challenge her out of her comfort zone. There's no one in the story who actually stands as a real rival to her, what Octavia Butler would call an "ultimate adversary." So Tefé will hang out with a punk band and a new friend, leaver her new friend alone with them even though Tefé knows this isn't safe, then finds out the friend was gang raped, punishes the rapists, then blames her new friend for being raped. Does anyone stop Tefé from doing this, or punish her, are there any consequences for this action, does it cause her to think new thoughts or move in a new direction? No, it just sort of happens.
There's a very white Gen X brain rot at the center of this story's problems, and it's an issue that I'm really familiar with. It's a poison Vaughan doesn't get out of his system until he finishes "Ex Machina," and after he does finish that later story he writes more genuinely revolutionary or at least beautifully revelatory stories like "Saga" and "Paper Girls." The brain rot sounds like this: "Is violence justified to stop a violent system?" "Are women oppressed or are they just irrational children?" "Do liberals have any kind of point to make or is it just P.C. culture run amok?" "Are Black people actually people or are they just weird magical beings and/or disease-carrying starving militants who can't get their act together?" "Are queer people cool but sad or are they evil and gross?" "Is there anything worth rebelling against or should I just get a job and shut up?" "Is collective action possible or does everything come down to individualism and personal responsibility?"
Now this sounds bad, and that's because it is bad. But it's not uncommon for pale ppl of the post-boomer, pre-millennial mindset. Reagan talked a lot of bullshit and that took hold in the yt cultural imagination very, very, very rapidly. It has made us lazy or indifferent to civil rights, it has enabled our worst greed instincts, it has made white women like myself hate ourselves to an absolutely mind-boggling degree, and it has gotten idiotic notions stuck in our frostbitten heads like "I don't even see color," "Reverse racism is real," "Queer and trans people sexualize children," "The government is fine actually and should not change," and "Why even bother doing anything the world is doomed and we should all just die?" It's annoying and it's exhausting and it's painted every aspect of American white culture and I will not see its death in my lifetime.
It's bogstandard white supremacy mind poisoning, and it comes as a result of three things: 1) Reaganomics brain worms that say financial success is the only real success and if you fail that you are a failure as a person, 2) if you're cis and het and able bodied, then you are insulated from a lot of sources of oppression, and told the oppression you do experience didn't happen and if it did happen it was your fault anyway. And 3) the internet didn't exist during gen x, not in the way it does now, so unless you spent a lot of time at a library putting all the pieces together to figure out how fucked the world is, you just didn't know. And in your ignorance, you can become susceptible to the brain rot questions. (Questions which are themselves insane and false binaries.)
See, POC, queer and trans folk, disabled peeps, don't often need to be told that shit is pretty bad out there in America, but we make up a minority of people in power, the kind of people who hire people that look like them to write comic books, to write all stories, to run all the broken systems in our country. It is to those people's benefit for the system to stay the way it is, because they profit off it and why would they build a system that didn't profit them further? Even if it is literally killing the planet and ruining our mental health.
A cousin of mine this week killed himself because his business went under as a result of the current economic recession. He had a wife and a kid, but his business went under and now he's gone. All because of money, which isn't real. We made it up. Housing should be free, food should be free, security and a sense of safety should be free. It should not be contingent on how much fake money we do or don't have. We can change the world into a different world. Plants are real, animals are real, oppression is real, and all of these things can change and can end, but only one of them should.
And this is why I haven't talked much about Tefé Holland and her journey, because she is mainly just a cipher in this story. An avatar for what is on Vaughan's brain at this point in his life. A mouthpiece. The characters in this story are constantly trying to talk their way out of the rot and into the truth, and they never do. They are just bitter, depressed, oppressed, and feel powerless even though in Tefé's case that is very much untrue.
In "Ex Machina," the main character feels doomed to become a morally grey, extremely depressed, Republican politician because, hey, that's where the power is. And that feels like the real finale (and the real overall story) of where Vaughan is headed in this Swamp Thing storyline. It's a story of giving up. Of preferring power and dominance instead of trying to imagine a better, or even salvageable, world. This story thinks humanity is too awful to save. I mean, Vaughan kills half of humanity in "Y: The Last Man" to build his idea of a better world. Vaughan had a lot of processing to do over the course of a lot of years. But he got better. He climbed out of the rot. Because "Saga" is a better, smarter, richer, realer story than any he's written before. He still has time to fuck it up of course, there's half the issues left to go, but he shows he can grow as a writer and as a person. Hopefully you can, too. Hopefully we all can. What's the alternative? A fatalist smirk on your face as you lay down and die? Is that the best case scenario, really? Is that all the amazing human imagination in your skull can contain?
February 6, 2015
Tefé remains an insufferable protagonist throughout this volume, and her little friends don't help matters either. She changes her objective on a whim, and just as it looks like something is about to happen, goes off in a completely different direction. The only likeable characters are Agent Killroy and Agent Orange, and the Samurai character. The villains aren't much better, sadistic and horrible for no particular reason.
That said, there are some parts of this volume I did enjoy, such as the final three issues where Tefé seems to learn the error of her ways and get on with her quest, and the appearance of her father Swamp Thing is a highlight of the book. The first issue involving Constantine is also excellent. It's just the main storyline that drags on for a little too long with no real aim to it.
The artwork is pretty solid throughout, I think this is some of Giuseppe Camuncoli's earliest work (correct me if I'm wrong) and you can see shades of the artist he is today in his pencils.
That said, there are some parts of this volume I did enjoy, such as the final three issues where Tefé seems to learn the error of her ways and get on with her quest, and the appearance of her father Swamp Thing is a highlight of the book. The first issue involving Constantine is also excellent. It's just the main storyline that drags on for a little too long with no real aim to it.
The artwork is pretty solid throughout, I think this is some of Giuseppe Camuncoli's earliest work (correct me if I'm wrong) and you can see shades of the artist he is today in his pencils.
December 10, 2014
Since the series was cancelled, this volume kind of ends in a wishy washy way, leaving some major plot points unfinished (like Heather and the senator; what the hell happened there??). An interesting concept, but ultimately, needed more of the big green guy.
February 2, 2015
Man oh man, can Vaughan be preachy and on-the-nose. The man could use a little subtlety sometimes. Glad his run was short on this series.
September 18, 2020
An eternal slog of aggravation and missed opportunities. I kept putting this down, believing I had fully given up on it, only to pick it up again in hopes it would redeem itself somehow. It just doesn't. This is truly one of the most frustrating comics I've ever read, made even moreso by the fact that it's written by Vaughan, one of my all-time favorite comics writers.
There's so much potential here! Tefe Holland is a great idea for a lead, struggling with her dual elemental nature, trying to decide if she should side with nature or humanity in the struggle for the planet. But she's just an abysmal character. I hated her by the end of volume 1, and only hated her more as the series wore on. It seems like Vaughan wants her to come across as an indecisive-yet-impulsive teenager, but she really just comes across as a complete nutcase and an asshole. None of her decisions are thought through, the consequences never weighed, and she never takes responsibility for anything. Plus, she's super dangerous, which made me just wish someone would kill her and get it over with.
Then there's the supporting cast, who have extremely "creative writing class" names like "Pilate" and "Barnabas" and "Agent Orange." None of them are ever given any depth or justification for their actions, either. They just kind of do stuff that further frustrates you. There's a plot thread involving a team of USDA agents (including the aforementioned Orange) who are trying to hunt Tefe down, but they don't even know why they're doing it. They decide to hunt her down on a whim, and their quest is never given another ounce of importance or a sense of impending doom or success or anything. They're just driving around, having boring conversations, hoping they miraculously run into Tefe.
There's a lot of that in this series. People just randomly on aimless quests without any direction. The USDA is trying to hunt down Tefe for no discernible reason. Tefe herself is trying to find a mythical Tree of Knowledge but has no idea where to even look for it, so she's just wandering around. Tefe decides she wants to assassinate a Senator because she has a "hunch" that he's a bad dude, based on watching his daughter on TV for 10 seconds. Even that never gets explained or explored. The Senator plot, which builds for several issues, gets very weakly "resolved" and then blown past without ever deciding if Tefe's murder quest was good or bad. The whole series constantly leaves you hanging. It's the comics equivalent of being on hold for an hour and then getting hung up on.
This is one of BKV's earliest series, and luckily he learned from a lot of the mistakes this series makes. He still loves a building mystery and people on quests and such, but now he gives them concrete goals and deeper characterization. And he's genuinely great! But if he'd continued to write like this, I don't think we would've heard about him for very long.
There's so much potential here! Tefe Holland is a great idea for a lead, struggling with her dual elemental nature, trying to decide if she should side with nature or humanity in the struggle for the planet. But she's just an abysmal character. I hated her by the end of volume 1, and only hated her more as the series wore on. It seems like Vaughan wants her to come across as an indecisive-yet-impulsive teenager, but she really just comes across as a complete nutcase and an asshole. None of her decisions are thought through, the consequences never weighed, and she never takes responsibility for anything. Plus, she's super dangerous, which made me just wish someone would kill her and get it over with.
Then there's the supporting cast, who have extremely "creative writing class" names like "Pilate" and "Barnabas" and "Agent Orange." None of them are ever given any depth or justification for their actions, either. They just kind of do stuff that further frustrates you. There's a plot thread involving a team of USDA agents (including the aforementioned Orange) who are trying to hunt Tefe down, but they don't even know why they're doing it. They decide to hunt her down on a whim, and their quest is never given another ounce of importance or a sense of impending doom or success or anything. They're just driving around, having boring conversations, hoping they miraculously run into Tefe.
There's a lot of that in this series. People just randomly on aimless quests without any direction. The USDA is trying to hunt down Tefe for no discernible reason. Tefe herself is trying to find a mythical Tree of Knowledge but has no idea where to even look for it, so she's just wandering around. Tefe decides she wants to assassinate a Senator because she has a "hunch" that he's a bad dude, based on watching his daughter on TV for 10 seconds. Even that never gets explained or explored. The Senator plot, which builds for several issues, gets very weakly "resolved" and then blown past without ever deciding if Tefe's murder quest was good or bad. The whole series constantly leaves you hanging. It's the comics equivalent of being on hold for an hour and then getting hung up on.
This is one of BKV's earliest series, and luckily he learned from a lot of the mistakes this series makes. He still loves a building mystery and people on quests and such, but now he gives them concrete goals and deeper characterization. And he's genuinely great! But if he'd continued to write like this, I don't think we would've heard about him for very long.
Read
December 8, 2019Vaughan’s Swamp Thing is definitely underrated. Look past the crappy art, and you’ll find good writing and smart storytelling across all 20 issues. The story is very much a journey of discovery for Tefé, and while that might seem familiar, the twists, social commentary, and characterization make it stand out to this day. I recommend this series if you’ve read Swamp Thing v2 (specifically Moore and Millar runs). Tefé was relegated to a minor role there, and I’m glad Vaughan decided to flesh out her character in a title all her own.
If the second volume has a fault, it’s the slightly rushed ending. Saying that, I think Vaughan wraps everything up nicely. The standalone stories where Tefé talks with Constantine and Swamp Thing, respectively, are this volume’s highlights.
If the second volume has a fault, it’s the slightly rushed ending. Saying that, I think Vaughan wraps everything up nicely. The standalone stories where Tefé talks with Constantine and Swamp Thing, respectively, are this volume’s highlights.
March 18, 2018
I was pretty disappointed in this short series. Since Alan Moore's run, Swamp Thing has been a complex, layered character, and I assumed Vaughan would do no less given his uncanny ability to write characters that haunt you even years after you finish the work (I'm talking to you Agent 355). Instead, the daughter of Swamp Thing comes off as fairly two dimensional. While the first volume was relatively compelling, it set me up to believe the second volume would add to and enhance the experience. Instead is was a letdown. While I don't read just to get to the end of the story, the end of this story . I really can't say more. Just a huge letdown.
October 24, 2023
Brian K. Vaughn is one of the best writers working in comics today. Kudos to DC for cashing in on his recent success with Saga by finally releasing his run on this title across two books. Vaughn's writing is both political and personal, with his beliefs and convictions channeled through the characters in the story. Think of him as the 21st century version of Steve Gerber or Don McGregor. Pure craft. My only gripe is that the Swamp Thing is a walk on role in only a handful of issues in this series. The real star is his Emo-tinged daughter Tefe. Vaughn is such a good writer that he can make you interested in something that wasn't what you wanted in the first place.
August 21, 2017
Well, that journey has come to an end. I can't say it was bad and I can't say it was great. There were some really good points made near the end that may have even been just as powerful with a shorter series run.
Vaughan was kind of long-winded in this series, in my opinion. It was kind of like one of those TV shows you want to quit but amazing scenes or episodes happen just enough to keep you on board.
All in all, the good outweighed the bad, but I feel like this overall story could have been trimmed.
Vaughan was kind of long-winded in this series, in my opinion. It was kind of like one of those TV shows you want to quit but amazing scenes or episodes happen just enough to keep you on board.
All in all, the good outweighed the bad, but I feel like this overall story could have been trimmed.
May 19, 2019
I was disappointed, Brian K. Vaughn completely whiffs the appearances by both John Constantine and Old Moss Head himself. In the context of the overarching story, both of their appearances should have been major sea changes in the progression of Tefe's story, but they end up coming off as more of a "well, that happened" situation.
February 7, 2021
A solid entry in environmental superheroism. so many well thought out subtle contemplations in finding balance between human and Earth healthiness. The characters and their development are intriguing and the contrivances are leveraged at a believable level. Also, an intriguing vibe of the pre 9/11 mindset, imo.
October 19, 2017
I really enjoyed these - the story line jumps around a bit so it can be harder to follow and is less polished than his later work like saga but i really love the story, the art, and the characters and their struggle. his interpretation of the green is also very interesting.
April 25, 2018
As another reviewer said, it just kind of peters out. I wonder if there was anything more planned.
(You can see some early hints of Saga here with people chasing a mixed-parentage girl all around the country, often in pairs, and the girl picking up party members as she travels.)
(You can see some early hints of Saga here with people chasing a mixed-parentage girl all around the country, often in pairs, and the girl picking up party members as she travels.)
June 4, 2022
An already meandering series ends abruptly and unsatisfyingly given the long build up of the big baddie. Reeks of cancellation. Wasn't that great until then, but mostly okayish. Then it fizzled out so awkwardly I'm left on a downer.
September 21, 2023
Fewer than five stars for two reasons: One, the artist has not apparently mastered drawing hair, and two, In a book about Swamp Thing, one expects to regularly SEE Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing's daughter does NOT carry the story well.
May 9, 2025
This was very existential in terms of the issues/ questions it addressed. This was definitely different from Alan Moore’s version. I doubt I would read it again but it was definitely worth the read.
March 4, 2019
Tomo 2 de 2 del Swamp Thing de Vaughan. Recopila los #11-20 y la historia corta de Vertigo Secret Files and Origins: Swamp Thing #1.
Algunos números los tengo repetidos en revistas.
Algunos números los tengo repetidos en revistas.
March 21, 2019
Brian K. Vaughan can do not wrong. Even when he's not at his best, he's still better than most. Love his characters and the twists his stories take. This was no exception.
April 19, 2019
More like 4.5 stars. This was a good arc with some really complex characters and plot points.
February 11, 2021
Not the Tefe I wanted to see. I would have had her differently.
April 5, 2025
BKV is such an absolute edgelord in this series. I regret wasting my time on it, garbage book.
May 1, 2025
Morality is a thorny topic, my dudes!
July 29, 2022
This was a giant leap up from the previous volume. Gone are the Millar-style manjokes,
May 20, 2022
This is Tefe starting to take more "human" approaches to the solution, saving the planet via activism. Which, interestingly. Hasn't been explored all that much until now!
Tefe takes the destroyer angle at first but then maybe realizes she's supposed to UNITE the Green and the Red.
Swamp Thing closing arcs are almost always a little rushed due to cancellation during the Vertigo era, but it's a good resolution, regardless.
Tefe takes the destroyer angle at first but then maybe realizes she's supposed to UNITE the Green and the Red.
Swamp Thing closing arcs are almost always a little rushed due to cancellation during the Vertigo era, but it's a good resolution, regardless.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews